Mary, Mother of God (and our Mother)

Among the titles with which faith and love honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, that of "Mother of God" surpasses all others, for in it we find the source and origin of all others. It comprises such praise and glory that no other can be compared with it.

The first step toward a recognition of Jesus Christ as Sav­ior of the world is belief in the Divine Maternity. Mary appears in the first pages of the Gospel as the Mother of Jesus. Her maternal office is mention­ed in the earliest creeds of the Church. The first symbol listed in the old Roman Creed is: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord, Who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary… (Fr. Lawrence Lovasik)

THE CHURCH SPEAKS:

Virgin Mary, who at the message of the angel received the Word of God in her heart and in her body and gave Life to the world, is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and Mother of the Redeemer. Redeemed by reason of the merits of her Son and united to Him by a close and indissoluble tie, she is endowed with the high office and dignity of being the Mother of the Son of God, by which account she is also the beloved daughter of the Father and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Because of this gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth. (Vatican II: Constitution on the Church, 53)

WHEN God in His mercy was pleased to dwell among us, you alone, 0 Mary, were privileged to offer the King of kings and the Lord of lords a worthy dwelling in your virginal abode. Truly even God was delighted to remain with you. Rejoice, Virgin most blessed, Mother undefiled, all shall call you blessed.

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Mary, the whole world reveres you as the holiest Shrine of the living God, for in you the salvation of the world saw its dawning. The Son of God was pleased to take human form from you. You have broken down the wall of hatred, the barrier between heaven and earth which was set up by man's first dis­obedience. In you heaven met earth when divinity and humanity were joined in one Person, the God-Man.

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Mother of God, we sing your praises, but we must praise you even more. Our speech is too feeble to honor you as we ought, for no tongue is eloquent enough to express your excellence. Mary, most powerful, most holy, worthy of all love! Your name brings new life, and the thought of you arouses love in the hearts of those who are devoted to you.

– St. Bernard (+1153)-

Mother of God's Children

As in the order of nature, a child must have a father and a mother, so likewise in the order of ~race, a true child of the Church must have God for his Father and Mary for his Mother; and if anyone should glory in having God for his Father and yet has not the love of a true child for Mary, he is a deceiver and the only father he has is the devil.

Mary Forms the Members of Jesus

Since Mary has formed Jesus Christ, the Head of the elect, it is also her office to form the members of that Head, that is to say, all true Christians; for a mother does not form the head without the members, nor the members without the head. Whoever, therefore, wishes to be a member of Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth, must be formed in Ma.ry by means of the grace (St. Louis de Montfort)

The divine maternity is the source of all Mary's privileges. Mary, the Immaculate One, the beloved daughter of the Father, is also the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, whose power overshadowed her because she had been chosen to be the Mother of the Incarnate Word. All Mary's greatness glory are explained in the light of her divine maternity; furthermore, her very existence is explained by her predestination ­to this high office. If God had not decreed that the Incarnation of His Son should take place in the womb of a Virgin, we should never have had that masterpiece of and loveliness, the Most Blessed Virgin; we should have had her smile or her maternal caresses.

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Therefore, we love and honor Mary because she is the Mother of God, Mother of Jesus; and loving her in her relation to God, our devotion to her only makes our love for God, for Jesus, deeper and more tender. "Mater Dei, Mater Creatoris,"Mother of God, Mother of Qur Creator, we invoke her in the These two titles which seem to be contradictory, actually express a unique synthesis because Mary, although a creature, is really the Mother of her Creator, the Mother of God's Son to whom she has given a human body: the fruit of her flesh and blood is the Son of God in whom and ,whom all things were created. Here we understand more ever how Mary's dignity reaches the threshold of the infinite. (Fr. Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene OCD)

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"God could make a bigger world or a wider sky, but He could not raise a pure creature higher than Mary, for the dignity of Mother of God is the highest dignity that can be conferred on a creature'" (St. Bonaventure)

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"God could make a bigger world or a wider sky, but He could not raise a pure creature higher than Mary, for the dignity of Mother of God is the highest dignity that can be conferred on a creature'" (St. Bonaventure)